Friday, December 11, 2009
NOT CANDY CANE
Jeff's ongoing journey continues to challenge and at times baffle us. He has been working out regularly on the treadmill which was so encouraging until he developed severe pain in his rib cage area and now down into his right hip around the hip replacement. It got so bad yesterday that he dug his cane out of storage to help him get around. He hasn't used the cane since the hip was replaced in 2007. Hopefully this too shall pass.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Another Way of Life
From Monitor Online
On the trail of a long-horned insect
Posted in: News
By
Dec 5, 2009 - 1:36:25 AM
Nearly every Ugandan takes the arrival of nsenene for granted. But the hunt for them is an act of survival that mirrors the story of life and death, as Saturday Monitor’s Rodney Muhumuza reports
If the wall had not been too high, or if the frantic girl in a school uniform had been tall enough, this would have been a quick catch. As fast as the hungry crows hovering in mid-air, as if marking their territory, Julie Nabbosa would have moved to her next target.
Yet height was not the only thing the girl did not have on her side. In this verdant tract of land that overlooks a railway line, where destitute people grow corn and the grass is tall enough to hide the face of a six-year-old girl, Nabbosa could have done with a lot of favours.
There were other boys and girls offering competition, and an adventurous incursion into bushes could leave her bruised. A foray into railway-line territory could be as disastrous as a foolish attempt to climb a rough wall with bare hands. At the very least, these children were bound to suffer terrible itches from hours spent romancing the grass.
Clutching bottles, some nearly full with the objects of their passion, Nabbosa and her horde could not have been fully aware of the risks they were taking. If they were --- and the oldest among them looked to be in his early teens --- they probably did not care.
It was 10a.m. on a rainy morning in an industrial part of Kampala, in the Namuwongo suburb, and these children were here for business. If the bottles they carried showed intent, and if the anxiety on their faces betrayed urgency, each of these children was a veritable soldier.
After all, this was November, season of the grasshoppers, or musenene, when young and old are not embarrassed to chase after tiny insects, when market vendors have to update their stock with a hot addition; when so many Ugandans have to pay expensively to get a taste of the new season.
The insects, known to everyone as simply nsenene, are a type of bush cricket that comes in hues ranging from light green to dark brown and to an improbable purple. In street talk, nsenene (the species Ruspolia baileyi) are said to “migrate” from the central region, in Masaka, to different parts of Uganda --- in gardens, on street poles, on high walls, and in the kinds of bushes Nabbosa was not afraid to negotiate.
“I will go home and fry them,” the girl said, her face contorted with coyness after a stranger asked to know why she was not at school.
“I am going home now.”
The man, looking down at her from his second-storey office, was within reach of several of the insects Nabbosa would have wanted stuffed in her bottle.
The insects were scattered across the wall Nabbosa was not tall or acrobatic enough to scale, and as she and her competitors walked away from the inquisitor, perhaps cursing their fortune, it was now up to the roaming birds to reign supreme. Those who catch nsenene range from innocent children like Nabbosa (who seize them one at a time from beneath dense vegetation) to ruthless businessmen (who invest heavily in harvesting material) and to marabou storks (which ambush the insects in space).
It is a process that renders itself to survival, to recklessness, and, increasingly, to shrewd trade.
Lights on
Not far from the place where Nabbosa was found catching nsenene, across a street that policemen regularly patrol for signs of illegality, one man had recently erected what a looked like an unfinished fence.
The contraption was in fact a trap to catch nsenene --- a barricade made of iron sheets raised high to reach a gleaming bulb. Nsenene are drawn to light, finding refuge along or near bright spots, and businessmen exploit this weakness to catch them in amazingly large numbers. Attracted to the light, which blinds them, the dazed insects inevitably slide down the iron sheets and into open barrels.
If their journey ends in those containers, their story does not. Nearly everywhere in Kampala’s suburbs, from Kitintale to Kamwokya, a keen eye will notice that sometime in November, as torrential rains pound the city, many roadside stalls are crowded with women circling saucepans brimming with nsenene. Their job is to pluck the wings and legs off these crickets, a task not as exciting as catching them, and then dropping them in empty saucepans, ready to be boiled and roasted until they turn a seductive golden brown.
Until the tasters find them crunchy (and salty) enough, the heat may not be turned off. And Johnson Tumuhereze’s job as a vendor may not start.
Never give up
“I walk wherever I can because my job is to sell,” he said one afternoon as he walked along a dusty street, his right hand carrying a can of ready-to-eat nsenene above his shoulder.
“This is my business.” At Shs200, which could be costly for many people, a spoonful is not enough to satiate a craving, and Mr Tumuhereze does not except to make more than Shs5,000 each day. In any case, he is one of so many young men hawking nsenene.
INCOME EARNER: Whenever the months of April and November set in, the trade in nsenene booms and business people cash in big.
In many ways, the nsenene story is as modern as it is archaic, adopting raw capitalism but retaining the crucial role of women in bringing the delicacy into living rooms.
Kiganda oral tradition has it that, in days past, women were sent to shrubs to harvest nsenene but were not allowed to eat them.
As the story goes, the privilege belonged to their selfish husbands.
“I think that the men were just being greedy,” says Charles Peter Mayiga, Buganda Kingdom’s information minister, “considering how delicious nsenene are.”
But the more serious reason, Mr Mayiga said, had to do with “the purity that was attached to the woman” in Buganda. If the women were strong enough to resist eating delicious insects on the sly, it was proof of their fidelity, he said, noting that attitudes have evolved over the years.
“My wife is a modern woman,” Mr Mayiga said, making the point that they both eat nsenene at home.
Put differently, nsenene have become an equaliser. And one place makes it clear: Nearly every morning when it is nsenene season, trucks and motorcycles descend upon Nakasero Market, in Kampala, to deliver huge consignments of freshly-trapped insects ferried from hundreds of miles away.
The jostling for space and sneering among rival salesmen --- young and old, women and men --- sometimes gives way to cold-blooded fights.
They do it for the love of nsenene, so that they milk the new season for all its worth, and so that Madinah Naggayi may take the season for granted.
“I’ve eaten a lot [of nsenene] this season,” the shopkeeper said recently. “I can’t count them, of course. And we don’t care about the trouble they go through to catch them. For us, we just wait.”
What is Nsenene?
Nsenene is the Luganda name for a long-horned grasshopper that is a central Ugandan delicacy as well as an important source of income.
The insect is also eaten in neighbouring areas of Kenya and Tanzania. Traditionally in Uganda, nsenene were collected by children and women. They were given to the women’s husbands in return for a new gomasi (a traditional dress for women). Although the women were made to do the treacherous work of collecting nsenene, they were never allowed to eat them.
It was believed that women who consume nsenene would bear children with deformed heads like those of a conocephaline bush cricket.
Nowadays, nsenene are consumed by most women in the areas where this insect is traditionally eaten.
November is the main nsenene season, the other being April, when a swarm of the delicious locusts converges on the areas around Lake Victoria from the greater North.
The commercial nsenene production includes wholesale trade in sacks, transported over long distances to urban areas in order to get the best price. In most market places, vendors cash in big on the nsenene.
Source: wikipedia
© Copyright 2009 by Monitor Online
On the trail of a long-horned insect
Posted in: News
By
Dec 5, 2009 - 1:36:25 AM
Nearly every Ugandan takes the arrival of nsenene for granted. But the hunt for them is an act of survival that mirrors the story of life and death, as Saturday Monitor’s Rodney Muhumuza reports
If the wall had not been too high, or if the frantic girl in a school uniform had been tall enough, this would have been a quick catch. As fast as the hungry crows hovering in mid-air, as if marking their territory, Julie Nabbosa would have moved to her next target.
Yet height was not the only thing the girl did not have on her side. In this verdant tract of land that overlooks a railway line, where destitute people grow corn and the grass is tall enough to hide the face of a six-year-old girl, Nabbosa could have done with a lot of favours.
There were other boys and girls offering competition, and an adventurous incursion into bushes could leave her bruised. A foray into railway-line territory could be as disastrous as a foolish attempt to climb a rough wall with bare hands. At the very least, these children were bound to suffer terrible itches from hours spent romancing the grass.
Clutching bottles, some nearly full with the objects of their passion, Nabbosa and her horde could not have been fully aware of the risks they were taking. If they were --- and the oldest among them looked to be in his early teens --- they probably did not care.
It was 10a.m. on a rainy morning in an industrial part of Kampala, in the Namuwongo suburb, and these children were here for business. If the bottles they carried showed intent, and if the anxiety on their faces betrayed urgency, each of these children was a veritable soldier.
After all, this was November, season of the grasshoppers, or musenene, when young and old are not embarrassed to chase after tiny insects, when market vendors have to update their stock with a hot addition; when so many Ugandans have to pay expensively to get a taste of the new season.
The insects, known to everyone as simply nsenene, are a type of bush cricket that comes in hues ranging from light green to dark brown and to an improbable purple. In street talk, nsenene (the species Ruspolia baileyi) are said to “migrate” from the central region, in Masaka, to different parts of Uganda --- in gardens, on street poles, on high walls, and in the kinds of bushes Nabbosa was not afraid to negotiate.
“I will go home and fry them,” the girl said, her face contorted with coyness after a stranger asked to know why she was not at school.
“I am going home now.”
The man, looking down at her from his second-storey office, was within reach of several of the insects Nabbosa would have wanted stuffed in her bottle.
The insects were scattered across the wall Nabbosa was not tall or acrobatic enough to scale, and as she and her competitors walked away from the inquisitor, perhaps cursing their fortune, it was now up to the roaming birds to reign supreme. Those who catch nsenene range from innocent children like Nabbosa (who seize them one at a time from beneath dense vegetation) to ruthless businessmen (who invest heavily in harvesting material) and to marabou storks (which ambush the insects in space).
It is a process that renders itself to survival, to recklessness, and, increasingly, to shrewd trade.
Lights on
Not far from the place where Nabbosa was found catching nsenene, across a street that policemen regularly patrol for signs of illegality, one man had recently erected what a looked like an unfinished fence.
The contraption was in fact a trap to catch nsenene --- a barricade made of iron sheets raised high to reach a gleaming bulb. Nsenene are drawn to light, finding refuge along or near bright spots, and businessmen exploit this weakness to catch them in amazingly large numbers. Attracted to the light, which blinds them, the dazed insects inevitably slide down the iron sheets and into open barrels.
If their journey ends in those containers, their story does not. Nearly everywhere in Kampala’s suburbs, from Kitintale to Kamwokya, a keen eye will notice that sometime in November, as torrential rains pound the city, many roadside stalls are crowded with women circling saucepans brimming with nsenene. Their job is to pluck the wings and legs off these crickets, a task not as exciting as catching them, and then dropping them in empty saucepans, ready to be boiled and roasted until they turn a seductive golden brown.
Until the tasters find them crunchy (and salty) enough, the heat may not be turned off. And Johnson Tumuhereze’s job as a vendor may not start.
Never give up
“I walk wherever I can because my job is to sell,” he said one afternoon as he walked along a dusty street, his right hand carrying a can of ready-to-eat nsenene above his shoulder.
“This is my business.” At Shs200, which could be costly for many people, a spoonful is not enough to satiate a craving, and Mr Tumuhereze does not except to make more than Shs5,000 each day. In any case, he is one of so many young men hawking nsenene.
INCOME EARNER: Whenever the months of April and November set in, the trade in nsenene booms and business people cash in big.
In many ways, the nsenene story is as modern as it is archaic, adopting raw capitalism but retaining the crucial role of women in bringing the delicacy into living rooms.
Kiganda oral tradition has it that, in days past, women were sent to shrubs to harvest nsenene but were not allowed to eat them.
As the story goes, the privilege belonged to their selfish husbands.
“I think that the men were just being greedy,” says Charles Peter Mayiga, Buganda Kingdom’s information minister, “considering how delicious nsenene are.”
But the more serious reason, Mr Mayiga said, had to do with “the purity that was attached to the woman” in Buganda. If the women were strong enough to resist eating delicious insects on the sly, it was proof of their fidelity, he said, noting that attitudes have evolved over the years.
“My wife is a modern woman,” Mr Mayiga said, making the point that they both eat nsenene at home.
Put differently, nsenene have become an equaliser. And one place makes it clear: Nearly every morning when it is nsenene season, trucks and motorcycles descend upon Nakasero Market, in Kampala, to deliver huge consignments of freshly-trapped insects ferried from hundreds of miles away.
The jostling for space and sneering among rival salesmen --- young and old, women and men --- sometimes gives way to cold-blooded fights.
They do it for the love of nsenene, so that they milk the new season for all its worth, and so that Madinah Naggayi may take the season for granted.
“I’ve eaten a lot [of nsenene] this season,” the shopkeeper said recently. “I can’t count them, of course. And we don’t care about the trouble they go through to catch them. For us, we just wait.”
What is Nsenene?
Nsenene is the Luganda name for a long-horned grasshopper that is a central Ugandan delicacy as well as an important source of income.
The insect is also eaten in neighbouring areas of Kenya and Tanzania. Traditionally in Uganda, nsenene were collected by children and women. They were given to the women’s husbands in return for a new gomasi (a traditional dress for women). Although the women were made to do the treacherous work of collecting nsenene, they were never allowed to eat them.
It was believed that women who consume nsenene would bear children with deformed heads like those of a conocephaline bush cricket.
Nowadays, nsenene are consumed by most women in the areas where this insect is traditionally eaten.
November is the main nsenene season, the other being April, when a swarm of the delicious locusts converges on the areas around Lake Victoria from the greater North.
The commercial nsenene production includes wholesale trade in sacks, transported over long distances to urban areas in order to get the best price. In most market places, vendors cash in big on the nsenene.
Source: wikipedia
© Copyright 2009 by Monitor Online
Friday, November 13, 2009
JOY
Today I feel JOY because it is our son's 36th birthday and we are going to have a family celebration at Jarra's Ethiopian Restaurant;Dirk's choice of food.
Dare I remember here the wonderful day Dirk was born and was laid on my chest moments after birth. Perhaps only mothers can recall the deep joy of that moment. Thirty six years later it still gives me joy when I hear his voice or when we are together. Jeff and I are eternally grateful for the gift of our son.
Today I'm also EXCITED because we put our first candidate into application with WorldVenture after 5 weeks of walking with Ashley Barram in initial steps to serve in Cote d'Ivoire pursuing a Community Health Internship with Rod and Angelika Ragsdale. I wish you could get to know her as well. We love her and feel it is such a privilege to be in the journey with her. Since we cannot be in Africa, this seems a beautiful way to remain connected to God's heart which is for the nations.
Dare I remember here the wonderful day Dirk was born and was laid on my chest moments after birth. Perhaps only mothers can recall the deep joy of that moment. Thirty six years later it still gives me joy when I hear his voice or when we are together. Jeff and I are eternally grateful for the gift of our son.
Today I'm also EXCITED because we put our first candidate into application with WorldVenture after 5 weeks of walking with Ashley Barram in initial steps to serve in Cote d'Ivoire pursuing a Community Health Internship with Rod and Angelika Ragsdale. I wish you could get to know her as well. We love her and feel it is such a privilege to be in the journey with her. Since we cannot be in Africa, this seems a beautiful way to remain connected to God's heart which is for the nations.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
LEARNING FROM HAGAR'S STORY
Last week we were at Corban College where I was given the opportunity to share some of my story with a Women in Ministries Class. I wasn’t sure what to share of the 21 years of our missional journey. I felt led to share the need to develop a Theology of Suffering as it was years before I realized how devastating the world can be when one does not know how to deal with all the suffering we encounter. Often we deal with it by thinking that God must be either angry, very mean and nasty or that He just does not care. Thus the need to study how the Bible reveals God in this area of a suffering humanity. I happen to believe the stories in the Bible are there to help us know God. He reveals Himself by how He relates to us as broken human beings. I believe the stories are true and historic. I also believe we need to focus on understanding the relationships as they are portrayed in Scripture.
I decided to start reading from the beginning of the Book and take a serious look at suffering and how God interacts with people in their suffering. This is what I discovered this morning.
Genesis 16
Hagar’s Story
(The story opens after the LORD has promised Abram a child in his old age.)
Such an intriguing story! Sarai, Abram’s wife, decidedly took things into her own hands. Impatience? Rebellion? Fear that the promise was impossible considering she was past childbearing? She stated, “Perhaps I can build a family through her.” Her, being Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant. Abram agreed to the plot. Hagar became pregnant and despised Sarai. Did Hagar willingly take 86 year old Abram to her bed? We are not told. But I imagine she was not given a choice. Hagar apparently became arrogant and disdained her mistress under the circumstances. Sarai in turn blamed Abram for her suffering. She even called on God to judge between her and Abram. Did Abram take Hagar’s side at first? Perhaps he was elated that Hagar was going to give Sarai and him a child, as was the initial plan. But, oh, the fickleness of Sarai, he must have thought. Abram, nonetheless, allowed Sarai in her peevishness and pain to mistreat Hagar so much so that Hagar sought to escape.
The Angel of the LORD found Hagar in the desert. Was she attempting to go home to her family in Egypt? We are not told. But my guess is she was. The Angel of the LORD pursued Hagar and invited her into a conversation. Amazing! The Angel of the LORD asked where she was coming from and where she was going. Hagar’s answer was simply that she was running away, not where she was going. Perhaps she had little or no hope of reaching Egypt alone as she headed into the desert. The Angel of the LORD told her to return to Sarai and to submit to her—then He promised Hagar the same thing He promised Abram (Gen. 15:5). But unlike the promise to Abram, that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him, the promise to Hagar regarding her son was that Ishmael (the name given by the Angel of the LORD meaning “God hears”) would be a wild donkey of a man; and that he would live in hostility with all his brothers. Hagar actually named the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me” and she stated, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
What an incredible story of God’s mercy, of God’s compassion for a desperate, marginalized, outcast, woman. A woman suffering the effects of the sin of others and of her own pride. A woman who had no power over her own situation. Thus Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram named his son, Ishmael. It seems obvious Hagar humbled herself and returned to Abram and Sarai. She must have told of her encounter with the Living God on the road to Egypt at the spring that is beside the road to Shur. The most poignant point of the story , in my view, is when the LORD told Hagar, “You shall name him (the child) Ishmael, for the Lord heard of your misery.
I am reminded that God sees us and hears us in our suffering. He does not always choose to do what we want Him to do to change the circumstances. But He does do what I believe is the most amazing thing. He comes alongside us and walks with us through it. Jeff and I were talking about this at lunch today. How often in the Scripture are we reassured that God is with us! Over and over it is written.
And as followers of His, I believe that is what He wants us to do for others. We cannot often fix what is broken, but we can walk with one another through times of suffering.
I decided to start reading from the beginning of the Book and take a serious look at suffering and how God interacts with people in their suffering. This is what I discovered this morning.
Genesis 16
Hagar’s Story
(The story opens after the LORD has promised Abram a child in his old age.)
Such an intriguing story! Sarai, Abram’s wife, decidedly took things into her own hands. Impatience? Rebellion? Fear that the promise was impossible considering she was past childbearing? She stated, “Perhaps I can build a family through her.” Her, being Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant. Abram agreed to the plot. Hagar became pregnant and despised Sarai. Did Hagar willingly take 86 year old Abram to her bed? We are not told. But I imagine she was not given a choice. Hagar apparently became arrogant and disdained her mistress under the circumstances. Sarai in turn blamed Abram for her suffering. She even called on God to judge between her and Abram. Did Abram take Hagar’s side at first? Perhaps he was elated that Hagar was going to give Sarai and him a child, as was the initial plan. But, oh, the fickleness of Sarai, he must have thought. Abram, nonetheless, allowed Sarai in her peevishness and pain to mistreat Hagar so much so that Hagar sought to escape.
The Angel of the LORD found Hagar in the desert. Was she attempting to go home to her family in Egypt? We are not told. But my guess is she was. The Angel of the LORD pursued Hagar and invited her into a conversation. Amazing! The Angel of the LORD asked where she was coming from and where she was going. Hagar’s answer was simply that she was running away, not where she was going. Perhaps she had little or no hope of reaching Egypt alone as she headed into the desert. The Angel of the LORD told her to return to Sarai and to submit to her—then He promised Hagar the same thing He promised Abram (Gen. 15:5). But unlike the promise to Abram, that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him, the promise to Hagar regarding her son was that Ishmael (the name given by the Angel of the LORD meaning “God hears”) would be a wild donkey of a man; and that he would live in hostility with all his brothers. Hagar actually named the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me” and she stated, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
What an incredible story of God’s mercy, of God’s compassion for a desperate, marginalized, outcast, woman. A woman suffering the effects of the sin of others and of her own pride. A woman who had no power over her own situation. Thus Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram named his son, Ishmael. It seems obvious Hagar humbled herself and returned to Abram and Sarai. She must have told of her encounter with the Living God on the road to Egypt at the spring that is beside the road to Shur. The most poignant point of the story , in my view, is when the LORD told Hagar, “You shall name him (the child) Ishmael, for the Lord heard of your misery.
I am reminded that God sees us and hears us in our suffering. He does not always choose to do what we want Him to do to change the circumstances. But He does do what I believe is the most amazing thing. He comes alongside us and walks with us through it. Jeff and I were talking about this at lunch today. How often in the Scripture are we reassured that God is with us! Over and over it is written.
And as followers of His, I believe that is what He wants us to do for others. We cannot often fix what is broken, but we can walk with one another through times of suffering.
Monday, October 19, 2009
ENCOURAGED
Jeff and I were with friends at Battle Ground yesterday.They encouraged me to continue blogging so I'm back and hope to keep this more up to date with what we are doing and how people can pray for us.
Praise: Jeff's health continues to improve on the vegan diet. His medical update: the diabetes is reversing, his blood pressure is down, his cholesterol is down and the kidney disease is reversing.
Please pray: for continuing improvement of health as his system is still in transition.
Praise: Our new role as Mission Coaches is an exciting journey. We are meeting with people interested in ministries in Pakistan, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Quebec, and Indonesia to name a few.
Pray we will have wisdom and discernment in coaching, encouraging and guiding these people on their missional journeys.
Pray for our trip to Cedarville University for their annual missions conference Oct. 21-24 as Jeff and I meet with our mentors, Phil and Mimi Bjorklund, who have been doing recruiting/coaching for the past 8 years. Pray we will be teachable and learn more about our role and how to better integrate the IT systems for tracking and reporting.
Pray as we will return to participate in Corban College's Annual Missions conference Oct. 26-30. Pray that we will develop relationships there that will be instrumental in encouraging young people in developing their Theology of Mission and engage their hearts with God's heart.
In all of this, especially pray we will have the strength and stamina for the journey. We find the pace of life here and the rhythms of working with students very challenging.
Praise: Jeff's health continues to improve on the vegan diet. His medical update: the diabetes is reversing, his blood pressure is down, his cholesterol is down and the kidney disease is reversing.
Please pray: for continuing improvement of health as his system is still in transition.
Praise: Our new role as Mission Coaches is an exciting journey. We are meeting with people interested in ministries in Pakistan, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Quebec, and Indonesia to name a few.
Pray we will have wisdom and discernment in coaching, encouraging and guiding these people on their missional journeys.
Pray for our trip to Cedarville University for their annual missions conference Oct. 21-24 as Jeff and I meet with our mentors, Phil and Mimi Bjorklund, who have been doing recruiting/coaching for the past 8 years. Pray we will be teachable and learn more about our role and how to better integrate the IT systems for tracking and reporting.
Pray as we will return to participate in Corban College's Annual Missions conference Oct. 26-30. Pray that we will develop relationships there that will be instrumental in encouraging young people in developing their Theology of Mission and engage their hearts with God's heart.
In all of this, especially pray we will have the strength and stamina for the journey. We find the pace of life here and the rhythms of working with students very challenging.
Monday, September 7, 2009
MOVED TO PRAY
I happened to check out Ross Kelly's blog "Deep South Sudan" this morning and am deeply moved to pray for him, the children he is caring for at Cornerstone Children's Home in Nimule, and for all of Sudan as the scenario looks really bleak for people there. If you want to join me in prayer click on Deep South Sudan and read Ross's last two blogs. I am reminded that even though things look extremely bleak, God is still in control. We just cannot see all He is doing in the dark mess of humanitarian crisis. But I do know that the perseverance of the saints, as Ross so poignantly communicates, is a powerful witness in that incredible spiritual and physical struggle there.
2 Corinthians 4:8 speaks loudly in all of this: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down; but not destroyed." Only God can do that in people's lives.
2 Corinthians 4:8 speaks loudly in all of this: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down; but not destroyed." Only God can do that in people's lives.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
OUR LIVES OF LATE
Travels July & August
Powers beyond Remote near Myrtle Point, Oregon
Grass Valley/Kent in Central Oregon land of vast wheat fields and crops of windmills
Elma/Aberdeen beautiful Washington
Littleton, Colorado WorldVenture HQ great meetings
La Veta, Alamosa & Monte Vista all S. Central Colorado childhood memories
Coquille on South coast of Oregon wonderful longtime friends & supporters
Molalla visiting a dying mentor and friend
Redmond family BBQ
Today:
Another medical procedure for Jeff
Colonoscopy (Almost forgot the antibiotics necessary for any invasive procedure when one has had a heart valve replacement; had to go to 2 places afterwards to get the 2 grams required) Now resting comfortably at home in recovery
Soon:
Celebration of 40 years of an incredible ride called marriage
Powers beyond Remote near Myrtle Point, Oregon
Grass Valley/Kent in Central Oregon land of vast wheat fields and crops of windmills
Elma/Aberdeen beautiful Washington
Littleton, Colorado WorldVenture HQ great meetings
La Veta, Alamosa & Monte Vista all S. Central Colorado childhood memories
Coquille on South coast of Oregon wonderful longtime friends & supporters
Molalla visiting a dying mentor and friend
Redmond family BBQ
Today:
Another medical procedure for Jeff
Colonoscopy (Almost forgot the antibiotics necessary for any invasive procedure when one has had a heart valve replacement; had to go to 2 places afterwards to get the 2 grams required) Now resting comfortably at home in recovery
Soon:
Celebration of 40 years of an incredible ride called marriage
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Life is Good
I'm just thinking of all the good things that have happened the past few days. Jeff and I were traveling this weekend to speak at a couple of our supporting churches in Central Oregon. We stopped in The Dalles for dinner Saturday night. I had researched on line and found a Mexican Restaurant that offered vegetarian food. So we stopped in at Casa El Mirador about 5 p.m. and were greeted by a 12 man Mexican troubadour playing and seranading those dining as it was the restaurant's 15th Anniversary. These musicians were dressed in their full Mexican glory and sang and played their trumpets, guitars and violins as if they were in a stadium. It was great fun if not a bit over the top for us as we had no clue what we were walking into:)
Then Sunday morning at a very old, traditional Baptist church during the worship time it was a truly pleasant surprise to hear one of the worshipers sitting in a pew behind me break out whistling with the pianist as she played "It Is Well With My Soul" during the offeratory. I had never before heard anyone so overcome with that kind of joy that they just had to whistle along:)
Last night we were having dinner with a single woman who had sought us out as she needed an older couple in her life just to come alongside and walk with her. We've been in home community with her before but had never taken time to really get to know her. We chose an Ethiopian Restaurant near where she worked so when the young Ethiopian waiter came to take our order Jeff told him that we all had been in Africa and were familiar with Ethiopian food. The next thing we knew the young waiter's father, I believe, came to our table to chat about Africa. Throughout our evening of getting to know our young friend's story, which has been very intense, the gray haired father would stop by our table to chat more about his homeland. Of course, he had no idea that we were having this intense conversation. He just wanted to talk with people who have been where he came from and who can relate to sitting under the stars at his father's feet (wrapped in his father's blanket) looking at the incredible star spangled African sky. It made for a very enriching evening both being honored by a young friend who wants to share her life with us and the Ethiopian gentleman who longs for friends who know where he's coming from.
Today we're rejoicing because Erin Carkner, who was with us in Adjumani, has finally got a job. Catholic Charities has wisely taken her back in a position which she will fill beautifully.
And the day's kicker is on a lark I went to Goodwill to see if I could find an office chair which would be kinder to my back than the leather director's chair I've been using. I could hardly believe it that there was a darling leather chair on sturdy castor type wheels that fits me perfectly at a reduced price of $15 and when I got my Club discount it cost me all of $13.49.
I love it! Life is truly sweet.
Then Sunday morning at a very old, traditional Baptist church during the worship time it was a truly pleasant surprise to hear one of the worshipers sitting in a pew behind me break out whistling with the pianist as she played "It Is Well With My Soul" during the offeratory. I had never before heard anyone so overcome with that kind of joy that they just had to whistle along:)
Last night we were having dinner with a single woman who had sought us out as she needed an older couple in her life just to come alongside and walk with her. We've been in home community with her before but had never taken time to really get to know her. We chose an Ethiopian Restaurant near where she worked so when the young Ethiopian waiter came to take our order Jeff told him that we all had been in Africa and were familiar with Ethiopian food. The next thing we knew the young waiter's father, I believe, came to our table to chat about Africa. Throughout our evening of getting to know our young friend's story, which has been very intense, the gray haired father would stop by our table to chat more about his homeland. Of course, he had no idea that we were having this intense conversation. He just wanted to talk with people who have been where he came from and who can relate to sitting under the stars at his father's feet (wrapped in his father's blanket) looking at the incredible star spangled African sky. It made for a very enriching evening both being honored by a young friend who wants to share her life with us and the Ethiopian gentleman who longs for friends who know where he's coming from.
Today we're rejoicing because Erin Carkner, who was with us in Adjumani, has finally got a job. Catholic Charities has wisely taken her back in a position which she will fill beautifully.
And the day's kicker is on a lark I went to Goodwill to see if I could find an office chair which would be kinder to my back than the leather director's chair I've been using. I could hardly believe it that there was a darling leather chair on sturdy castor type wheels that fits me perfectly at a reduced price of $15 and when I got my Club discount it cost me all of $13.49.
I love it! Life is truly sweet.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
EXERCISING MY PREROGATIVE
I've heard it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind. Well, I am exercising my prerogative and have decided to keep the Sudanpartnership blog and also write to this blogspot, as well.
I find my heart continues to turn to Africa, especially Sudan and Northern Uganda so I plan to keep posting to my initial blog those things that spark my heart. Keeping this blog, I plan to post more of my own personal thoughts and happenings here.
Today Jeff and I are going to lunch with one of my old friends from Colton. She is one of those broken people that I love loving on. Unfortunately, it isn't as easy for Jeff. But she and her husband want to take us out to Sweet Tomato and have expressed interest about hearing about my recent trip to Uganda. So we're going to take the laptop and show them some video and photos. It should be fun as we love talking about "our stuff". I love making my friend laugh and I love her husband who often makes me laugh. I'm hoping that Jeff will enjoy this outing, as well, as we love on these old folks.
I find my heart continues to turn to Africa, especially Sudan and Northern Uganda so I plan to keep posting to my initial blog those things that spark my heart. Keeping this blog, I plan to post more of my own personal thoughts and happenings here.
Today Jeff and I are going to lunch with one of my old friends from Colton. She is one of those broken people that I love loving on. Unfortunately, it isn't as easy for Jeff. But she and her husband want to take us out to Sweet Tomato and have expressed interest about hearing about my recent trip to Uganda. So we're going to take the laptop and show them some video and photos. It should be fun as we love talking about "our stuff". I love making my friend laugh and I love her husband who often makes me laugh. I'm hoping that Jeff will enjoy this outing, as well, as we love on these old folks.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
KIDNAPPED
Pray with me for the release of the two women who are victims of the ongoing mess in Darfur.
Kidnappers want $2 mln for Darfur aid workers
Kidnappers want $2 mln for Darfur aid workers
Source: Reuters
KHARTOUM, July 14 (Reuters) - Kidnappers of two female aid workers in Sudan's Darfur region have demanded $2 million for their release, but the government is determined not to pay, a minister said on Tuesday. The two workers for Irish aid group GOAL were seized by armed men on July 3 from their base in the north Darfur town of Kutum -- the third abduction of foreign humanitarian staff in the region in four months. "The kidnappers are asking for $2 million. But our policy is not to pay ransom. We feel that would encourage others to do the same," said state minister for humanitarian affairs Abdel Baqi al-Jailani. The minister said Darfur officials were using local leaders to negotiate with the kidnappers, adding he was still expecting a positive outcome. "Our main priority remains the safety of the two women," he told Reuters. Irish negotiators and government officials have sent teams to Khartoum and El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, to help free the women, named by GOAL as Hilda Kawuki, 42, from Uganda, and Sharon Commins, 32, from Dublin. Two groups of foreign aid workers kidnapped in Darfur earlier this year were released unharmed after a period of negotiation. A group calling itself the Eagles of Bashir said it seized staff from the Belgian arm of Medecins Sans Frontieres in north Darfur in March to protest against the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, to face charges of human rights abuses in the region. Bashir has dismissed the allegations. Another group, calling itself the Freedom Eagles of Africa, said it abducted staff from Aide Medicale Internationale in south Darfur in April to demand Paris retry members of Zoe's Ark, a French humanitarian group, convicted but later pardoned over the abduction of children from Chad. The six-year Darfur conflict has pitted pro-government militias and troops against mostly non-Arab rebels, who took up arms in 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting the region. Estimates of the death toll range from 10,000 according to Khartoum, to 300,000 according to U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes. The minister said reports in Sudanese state media the abductors were asking for $200 million were incorrect. (Reporting by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Also pray with me for Kim Davey, from Imago Dei Community, recently evacuated with her missionary team from Didinga Hills in Sudan after their leader was abducted (later released) and the team threatened. After much prayer they have decided not to return. Pray for continued peace and redirection as Kim wants to remain in Africa in a yet to be determined ministry.
Also pray with me for Kim Davey, from Imago Dei Community, recently evacuated with her missionary team from Didinga Hills in Sudan after their leader was abducted (later released) and the team threatened. After much prayer they have decided not to return. Pray for continued peace and redirection as Kim wants to remain in Africa in a yet to be determined ministry.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
UGANDA EDITORIAL
A recent "Christian" crusade in Uganda generated the following commentary I read in the Ugandan New Vision today. A little piece of reality.
THE screaming headline, Benny Hinn lost sh4b in Uganda published on Thursday, shocked me. It was like shouting "FIRE" in a crowded prison cell.
I don't mean to condemn anyone because I believe everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but it is rather strange for someone to tell me that Benny Hinn sunk billions in these crusades when he toured Uganda and expected a profit!
Tell me, did Benny Hinn and his colleagues sit down and come up with a business plan to make money from Uganda, DRC and South Africa, in the guise of preaching? Was it preaching or the money, or both? Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
Had Benny Hinn carried food relief and donated to Karamoja, had he brought boxes of Tami flu to fight an impending H1N1 pandemic, had he donated mosquito nets to pregnant women, had he sunk billions of shillings to promote his crusades, I would think otherwise.
Crucially, if we knew that this was purely a money making venture, we would probably understand. But I simply do not understand how Christians are being taken for granted by people with ulterior motives. Never has there been a time where we've seen a complete exploitation of the terms offering and tithe like we are seeing these days, especially by globe-trotting, private jet evangelists.
The problem is, many spiritually believe in these evangelists and are torn apart by countervailing forces, their emotions only as authentic and sincerely felt as their reflexive irony allows them to be. They are invested yet detached, a paradoxical result of being both over-informed and essentially powerless.
Each and every day, new Christians
are pulled, kicking and squealing, into the fray. If life was a tradeable commodity, its market value would be at a historic low, with the bottom a long way down. But like sheep, folks still respond in numbers.
When a pastor was quoted as saying without skipping a beat that, "These days it is hard to get free things" in response to questions about charging entry fees for a sermon, that sound you heard, was a cock crowing three times except backwards. The poor flock was disowned of all the nerve, for money!
As if this wasn't enough, Benny Hinn pushed the envelope talk further when he was quoted as saying, "Most people are poor in Africa and it affected the recent crusade" (read: affected sales). To me this sounded like evangelical speak, but with an alcoholic delivery.
I just sat with my mouth agape. Did I read right? Benny Hinn should be ashamed to be talking cash flow instead of how many hearts and souls got converted.
Benny Hinn and his type should come to Africa, to practically help that needy child in an IDP's camp, to help that mother that would do with surgical gauze and gloves in a clinic in Busiro, to help feed those 190 plus HIV-infected children at Keep a Child Alive in Namuwongo.
Uganda needs practical deeds, not people who come and talk while beaming back to an international television audience, all talk no action and worry about the top line and bottom line revenues. And the flock should wake up and stop being manipulated like sheep. It amazes me that these followers are so vulnerable! How about a soldier in downtown Mogadishu? Wake up people.
Instead of preaching to convert that one soul, evangelists are thinking about the numbers and pockets. It is like we are going through a species-wide correction with evangelists changing the true values of preaching.
Help me God before an ATM is installed in my church!
Was it preaching, money or both?
New Vision
Publication date: Friday, 3rd July, 2009
By Patrick OyuluTHE screaming headline, Benny Hinn lost sh4b in Uganda published on Thursday, shocked me. It was like shouting "FIRE" in a crowded prison cell.
I don't mean to condemn anyone because I believe everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but it is rather strange for someone to tell me that Benny Hinn sunk billions in these crusades when he toured Uganda and expected a profit!
Tell me, did Benny Hinn and his colleagues sit down and come up with a business plan to make money from Uganda, DRC and South Africa, in the guise of preaching? Was it preaching or the money, or both? Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
Had Benny Hinn carried food relief and donated to Karamoja, had he brought boxes of Tami flu to fight an impending H1N1 pandemic, had he donated mosquito nets to pregnant women, had he sunk billions of shillings to promote his crusades, I would think otherwise.
Crucially, if we knew that this was purely a money making venture, we would probably understand. But I simply do not understand how Christians are being taken for granted by people with ulterior motives. Never has there been a time where we've seen a complete exploitation of the terms offering and tithe like we are seeing these days, especially by globe-trotting, private jet evangelists.
The problem is, many spiritually believe in these evangelists and are torn apart by countervailing forces, their emotions only as authentic and sincerely felt as their reflexive irony allows them to be. They are invested yet detached, a paradoxical result of being both over-informed and essentially powerless.
Each and every day, new Christians
are pulled, kicking and squealing, into the fray. If life was a tradeable commodity, its market value would be at a historic low, with the bottom a long way down. But like sheep, folks still respond in numbers.
When a pastor was quoted as saying without skipping a beat that, "These days it is hard to get free things" in response to questions about charging entry fees for a sermon, that sound you heard, was a cock crowing three times except backwards. The poor flock was disowned of all the nerve, for money!
As if this wasn't enough, Benny Hinn pushed the envelope talk further when he was quoted as saying, "Most people are poor in Africa and it affected the recent crusade" (read: affected sales). To me this sounded like evangelical speak, but with an alcoholic delivery.
I just sat with my mouth agape. Did I read right? Benny Hinn should be ashamed to be talking cash flow instead of how many hearts and souls got converted.
Benny Hinn and his type should come to Africa, to practically help that needy child in an IDP's camp, to help that mother that would do with surgical gauze and gloves in a clinic in Busiro, to help feed those 190 plus HIV-infected children at Keep a Child Alive in Namuwongo.
Uganda needs practical deeds, not people who come and talk while beaming back to an international television audience, all talk no action and worry about the top line and bottom line revenues. And the flock should wake up and stop being manipulated like sheep. It amazes me that these followers are so vulnerable! How about a soldier in downtown Mogadishu? Wake up people.
Instead of preaching to convert that one soul, evangelists are thinking about the numbers and pockets. It is like we are going through a species-wide correction with evangelists changing the true values of preaching.
Help me God before an ATM is installed in my church!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
SURPRISED
Life in the USA is such a mixed bag. Sometimes it scatters my mind and other times gives me such joy.
Jeff and I went to a Timber's soccor game last night with our kids. Great fun as the Timbers faced off with the Seattle Sounders! Over 16,000 of us turned out for the big game. I was so surprised by the tears that flowed down my cheeks when the National Anthem was sung as all 16,000+ of us stood and the Timber's Army sang along. Surprised at my emotion. Surprised, as I don't think of myself as a great patriot, but very grateful for our freedom. Surprised by tears of joy being close to sons and daughters to do life with them in the venues that flavor their lives. Surprised by the birth of a new passion for a small town team being born into MLS. The Army's fervor is contagious and great fun!
Jeff and I went to a Timber's soccor game last night with our kids. Great fun as the Timbers faced off with the Seattle Sounders! Over 16,000 of us turned out for the big game. I was so surprised by the tears that flowed down my cheeks when the National Anthem was sung as all 16,000+ of us stood and the Timber's Army sang along. Surprised at my emotion. Surprised, as I don't think of myself as a great patriot, but very grateful for our freedom. Surprised by tears of joy being close to sons and daughters to do life with them in the venues that flavor their lives. Surprised by the birth of a new passion for a small town team being born into MLS. The Army's fervor is contagious and great fun!
Monday, June 22, 2009
New Horizons
Being based in Portland now, it seems time to retire the Sudanpartnership blog and join the blogspot people:) I still want to keep Sudan and Uganda on the radar, but it does seem the Lord is broadening our horizons as we begin our new role as missions coaches.
The most recent example of a new horizon was the joy of seeing Rosemarie Caward to Bolivia for a short term trip which seems to be a taste of what might be for her a longer term relationship with the people of Bolivia. Some of her incredible photos can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosemariec/sets/72157620013975068/show/
The most recent example of a new horizon was the joy of seeing Rosemarie Caward to Bolivia for a short term trip which seems to be a taste of what might be for her a longer term relationship with the people of Bolivia. Some of her incredible photos can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosemariec/sets/72157620013975068/show/
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